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A final salute to Alamogordo officer Corvinus

ALAMOGORDO – By all accounts Alamogordo Police Department officer Clint Corvinus loved dogs, tattoos, SpongeBob, his family and friends but he also loved serving his community and the residents of Alamogordo.

ALAMOGORDO – By all accounts Alamogordo Police Department officer Clint Corvinus loved dogs, tattoos, SpongeBob, his family and friends but he also loved serving his community and the residents of Alamogordo.

APD, law enforcement agencies throughout New Mexico and the nation along with Alamogordo residents packed the Tays Center on the campus of New Mexico State University-Alamogordo to pay tribute to their fallen brother Saturday.

APD officer Corvinus, 33, was fatally shot during a foot pursuit in the 600 block of South Florida Avenue around 8:30 a.m. Sept. 2. According to New Mexico State Police’s preliminary investigation, Corvinus was fatally shot by wanted fugitive Joseph Moreno as Moreno was running away from officers Corvinus and Christopher Welch, then Welch fatally shot Moreno.

Alamogordo Police Chief Daron Syling said Corvinus also liked to listen to Kanye West’s music and possibly Justin Bieber.

“I didn’t know Clint very well,” Syling said. “He did tell me his best work is being a training officer. Clint was a great training officer. He understood that you become it and stick with it. Clint would be faithful as a training officer. On Sept. 2, 2016 officer Clint Corvinus would fulfill his duty as a training officer by ensuring the safety of his trainee.”

He said on Sept. 2 the departments’ lives were changed forever.

Alamogordo Police Chief Daron Syling gave one last message to Corvinus during the funeral saying, “Clint, you fulfilled your duty and you did it with pride. There will never be any doubt you did your best work. Your work here is finished. You may rest now. We have watch from here.”(Photo11: (Photo: Tara Melton/Daily News))

“We’ll keep moving forward,” Syling said. “Clint would expect that. He was old school. Clint was described as a cops, cop. The same description used to describe Clint’s father Tom. Tom, you trained a great cop by being an example for us to follow. To the rest of the Corvinus family, your sacrifice is great for which we are thankful. Clint, you fulfilled your duty. You did it with pride. There is not even a doubt that you did your best work. Your work is done. Rest in peace.”

Corvinus moved to Alamogordo with his family in 1989. He officially started working for the Alamogordo Department of Public Safety in March 2012 before the department reorganized into the Alamogordo Police Department.

He is a 2013 graduate of the New Mexico Police Academy after working a year for ADPS as an officer prior to leaving for the academy. Corvinus was a 4 1/2 year veteran of the Alamogordo Police Department.

“He was an Alamogordo local through and through,” Martinez said. “It’s because of his selfless service that we live through him and miss him. We do know there are bad people in this world and they do not respect the uniform that’s why law enforcement professionals like officer Corvinus put on the uniform every single day.”

She said she believes Corvinus shared his heart of service with Alamogordo.

“Jessica, your father loved you and he always will,” Martinez said. “He protected the lives he loved and even those he didn’t even know. He was a very brave man. He is an example of what it means to serve with honor and integrity. Thank you for sharing your daddy with all of us. To the men and women of blue, they knew he always had their back. His friends and family remember a jokester who always had a smile on his face. He realized life was too short not to laugh.”

She said to our Alamogordo community and police officers, and our New Mexico family, our hearts are with you because we are one family.

U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Damon Martinez said he wanted to express his condolences to the family of officer Corvinus and Alamogordo.

“In the U.S. Attorney’s Office here in New Mexico, the law enforcement community knows no line. City, county, state and federal, we’re all just one law enforcement family,” Damon Martinez said. “We are here to work in support of each other every day. On this day we all share the sorrow of losing officer Corvinus.”

Rep. Steve Pearce said he believes the crowd of people in attendance shows the respect that New Mexico has for law enforcement.

“Today your presence is a witness that we support and honor them (law enforcement),” Pearce said. “It speaks for this community. It’s speaks for New Mexico and speaks for the goodness of this nation. Let no one take that from us. Sometimes people cry because they’ve been strong too long. America cries right now. America is tired. We are weary. We’re physically and mentally drained. We’ve been strong too long.”

He said his prayers are with the Corvinus family.

“To us thank you for sharing him with us,” Pearce said. “Thank you for raising your son to respect the law, for respecting the community and to respect God enough to sign up for this job. What else would explain why anyone would sign up for this job? They live their entire lives on duty always knowing things can change on a moment’s notice.”

Corvinus is survived by his parents, Tom and Cindy Corvinus; his 14-year-old daughter Jessica Corvinus; sister April Sanchez and her husband Jayme; grandmother Margaret Corvinus; and Corvinus’ girlfriend Amber Anderson.